Welcome new readers/followers/favouriters & heartfelt gratitude to CSI Encyclopedia, LilMisfit5290, Bluestarshine & Eyesdown104 for your feedback & reviews for Chapter 24! Has anyone seen Hatufim (Prisoners of War) which was the inspiration for Homeland? If you haven't watched it, order it now! I have included elements of both in this chapter, but have written in a way to avoid/minimise spoilers for Hatufim. Let me know what you think, even if you haven't seen it?!
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THE DATE
CHAPTER 25
Peter Quinn walked slowly, with trepidation, towards the meeting room. He did not have any idea who these mysterious Israelis were, or why they wanted to speak with him. Max scuttled off, down a little-used corridor. Undoubtedly back to the dank burrow that he'd emerged from. Quinn stopped in his tracks when he saw Carrie. She was clearly agitated, running her fingers through her long blonde hair and pacing the corridor outside the dreaded meeting room. She looked up and froze when she saw Quinn, her face still contorted. For a few seconds, their blue eyes locked and they stared, apprehensively, at each other. Quinn felt like his heart was paralysed and his throat became tight. He'd almost forgotten how beautiful she was, even pulling a face like that and how much he cared for her. He shuddered guiltily, as images of Rudy McCoy back in the office and Brody locked in the interrogation room, flitted alternately through his mind.
Carrie took a step towards him and Quinn braced himself for the onslaught of her anger. McCoy had said that Carrie blamed them for Brody's latest incarceration and was in an absolute rage. Quinn was taken aback when Carrie, reached out and grasped his arm tightly, her tearful eyes pleading and filled with desperation, "You've got to help me!"
Quinn gazed back at her. He felt so overwhelmed and emotional to see her again, that he was unable to speak.
"They're here to lock Brody up and throw away the key." Carrie swallowed a sob, "They won't listen to me..."
Quinn opened his mouth to reply, but the door to the meeting room suddenly swung open and Saul stood there frowning at the pair of them.
"Come in Peter," Saul sighed and wiped his dark bushy brow with a white handkerchief, "Carrie, you can go back to your office now."
…
Quinn followed Saul into the meeting room and looked over curiously at the seated Israeli visitors. He was instantly captivated by the stunningly beautiful woman with shoulder-length black hair and a sweet, flirtatious smile. She stood and held out a bare, slim, arm towards Quinn and shook his hand demurely. "Hello, I'm Iris," she breathed with an amused, curious expression in her twinkling, dark eyes. The stack of colourful bracelets on her dainty wrist rattled. She was the antithesis of Carrie's anxious persona outside the room. Iris was calm, relaxed and almost childlike. Her touch was like a warm, energetic balm that trickled into his palm.
Quinn pulled his hand away in confusion and tried not to be enchanted in a millisecond, "I'm Peter Quinn." He didn't know what the hell was going on, but as long as it involved sitting in a room with this beautiful woman, then he didn't really care. As she lowered her dark eyelashes seductively, his recent amorous thoughts about McCoy and Carrie magically started to disperse and vaporise. He felt guilty and fickle at how quickly and easily aroused he was, by somebody else. Practicalities and worries drifted into his mind, like that he was out of practice and he tried to remember the last time that he'd had full sex. He assumed that it must have been many months ago, with the ER Nurse that he wasn't that into, but he had no actual recollection of what it had been like. His more recent memory of Carrie licking his torso at the Motel was suddenly, equally hard to recall. Even McCoy's Indian head massage from only a few minutes ago, seemed irrelevant, now he was in the room with this olive-skinned Goddess, Iris. He felt the overpowering urge to lean forward and kiss her pink lips that were curving with a hint of humour. Quinn reluctantly took his eyes off her round pertness, that was tempting him from within her low-cut, floral summer dress and he turned to her staid, older male companion, who looked like he was trying not to laugh out loud, at Quinn's predictable reaction to Iris. Quinn belatedly realised that his own mouth was still open and he closed it, embarrassed that he'd almost been drooling.
The short, rotund, bald man who was wearing a navy blue button-down shirt, held out his meaty palm and nodded to Quinn curtly, as he beadily scrutinised him, "Major Haim Cohen. Military Doctor." His all-knowing eyes automatically scanned Quinn's body-language, making him feel paranoid, like he was a pervert who'd been caught in the act of mentally undressing Iris. Quinn did not dare look across at Iris again so he arched an eyebrow at Saul for an explanation of what the hell these people were doing here.
Saul was serious as he did his best to explain "Major Haim Cohen is a Military Psychologist with the Israel Defense Forces. He's the best Psychologist in the world, a leading expert on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and has debriefed countless Prisoners of War in his state of the art facility."
Haim Cohen did not rebuff the compliment, "It's true," he stated factually, writing a few secretive notes, likely about Quinn, into a battered black Moleskine notebook.
Saul continued, "Unfortunately our own Military Psychologist was blown up by Estes' car bomb at Walden's Memorial, but luckily Major Cohen and his colleague have kindly come to our aid to help us out with debriefing Nicholas Brody."
Haim Cohen nodded, "It is an honour to be here."
Saul frowned, "He is also keen to assess my staff for any signs of PTSD since the bombing."
"Well that's enough about me for now." Haim Cohen smiled, "Please tell Peter about who he is really interested in. Young Iris!"
Saul smiled over at Iris in a caring, proud, fatherly manner, "Iris is an undercover investigator working for the Israeli Government. She specialises in covertly gathering intelligence from former Prisoners of War. She finds out exactly what happened to them in captivity and particularly if there is any risk that they may have been turned..."
Iris flashed her white teeth again, in a well-worn charming smile and Quinn's heart began to sink as he now understood that Iris was probably some sort of well-honed and well-toned, honey-trap. He could easily visualise men falling for her charms and confessing their secrets, whether or not they had intended to. However, Quinn couldn't imagine Saul sending Iris in Brody's direction, considering his ongoing relationship with Carrie. Whose benefit was Iris here for? Despite her coy smiles clearly being directed at him, Quinn was becoming convinced that she was just practising her entrapment skills. He felt confident that his immunity against her physical charms would soon increase.
...
"So what's the plan?" Quinn asked, growing bolder, as Iris's magnetic power began the inevitable process of gradually diminishing, now that he was aware of her motives.
"Firstly, we are going to evaluate Nicholas Brody properly," smiled Haim Cohen, smugly. He shot a disappointed look at Saul, as if he was solely responsible for Brody not being assessed accurately the first time around. Like he'd personally allowed a potential suicide bomber to slip through the net. He continued, "We have been briefed on the sensitive nature of the current situation with Brody. We know that he was turned by Abu Nazir in captivity and intended to commit despicable acts of terrorism, but he later redeemed himself by becoming a double agent for the CIA. Saul said that his information was good and lead to the capture of several Al-Qaeda operatives, including Roya Hammad."
Saul nodded, "All the evidence suggests that Brody had no involvement in the Memorial bombing whatsoever. However, Al-Qaeda tried to frame him by using his car and releasing his old confession video."
Haim Cohen grabbed his Moleskine notebook and scribbled something.
"Brody absconded to Canada because he was scared, not because he was guilty. However, we need to make certain that he no longer poses any threat to national or international security." Saul shrugged apologetically at Quinn, "I have to cover my ass."
Haim Cohen frowned, "We must also assess Brody's mental health for ongoing conditions like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, before he is free to leave."
Saul nodded, "Agreed."
Haim Cohen shuffled a pile of papers, "As Saul mentioned, I hope to do some routine screening of CIA staff for any mental health issues following the Memorial bombing."
Quinn's mind was racing. It all made sense. He wondered why Carrie was so scared? Was she concerned that Brody wouldn't be able to complete the tests successfully? Or was she worried that Brody would fall for Iris?!
"What do you need me for?" asked Quinn, nervously. He prayed that Rudy McCoy hadn't been gossiping about his recent drunken incident on the balcony at the Penthouse in Philadelphia. He hoped Haim Cohen wouldn't get a chance to question him about that.
"We need somebody smart and to be on the ball if Brody comes up with any actionable intelligence," drawled Saul, "And..."
Haim Cohen interrupted and scrutinised Quinn, "I understand that you have interrogated Brody before? A summary of that interrogation will be useful in planning our debriefing strategy."
Quinn nodded. "Why me? Why not Saul or Carrie? They've been involved with Brody for much longer than I have."
"I'm the Director now, I've already got too much to do, starting with overseeing the rebuilding of a team, as well as a decent building," Saul interjected. "I need someone I can trust to liaise with Major Cohen and Iris... and I trust you, Quinn."
Quinn smiled as his wicked thought crossed his mind, Trust me with Iris? Are you mad?
Saul sighed, "I'm too busy anyway, keeping my eye on this new saga with Hezbollah's leaders in Lebanon. That's where Rudy McCoy is going tonight... in case we need to intervene to neutralise the situation over there."
"And Carrie?" Quinn frowned at Haim Cohen, "Will she be helping you?"
Haim Cohen laughed as if Quinn had gone insane before his eyes, "I hardly think that Brody's Mistress can be objective in this matter! From what I've seen this morning, she's rather too emotional. I prefer to work with cerebral people. I prefer assistants who think rationally with their heads and not their sly, selfish hearts."
Iris frowned at her colleague, before piping up, "For some Prisoners of War, coming home is harsher than being held captive. Without proper support for reintegration into society, then it's common for family relationships to suffer, affairs to begin and marriages to fail. Extremely common in fact..."
Affairs? I'm not surprised, especially if you're involved in their reintegration, thought Quinn, cynically, before realising that Carrie might not have liked to hear this information about marriages failing.
Perhaps Carrie is afraid that these Israelis are going to repair Brody and he'll go running back to Jessica?
Is Carrie scared that if Brody is 'fixed' then he'll no longer want to be with her?
They would no longer be two damaged souls clinging together as if their lives depended on each other. Brody would be given the support he needed to recover from his ordeal with Al-Qaeda and Abu Nazir, whilst Carrie would be abandoned and stuck battling with the demons of her bipolar disorder forever.
Haim Cohen looked at Iris accusingly, before smiling intimately at Quinn. "It is interesting to note that there appears to be a common phenomenon for female agents to think that they have fallen in love with former Prisoners of War. It is usually a type of Saviour Complex, a psychological construct which makes a person feel the overwhelming need to save other people."
Saul nodded, "Major Cohen explained to me and Carrie earlier, that former POW's are often so desperate and needy, that this Saviour Complex arises unconsciously in agents. This often leads to them over-stepping their professional boundaries." He sighed, "I believe that it would be in Carrie's best interests to be assessed for this condition."
Quinn frowned, "What does Carrie think about that?"
"I don't know," shrugged Saul, "She stormed out of the room."
"I'm sure Iris won't mind if I share that she once found herself in a similar situation, with a particularly needy Israeli POW." Haim Cohen smirked, "However, I have counselled Iris so effectively that she is now almost at the satisfactory point of having no feelings whatsoever for the man."
The guilty look on Iris's face told Quinn all he needed to know. Bullshit. Iris was still in love with her own POW, just like Carrie was hopelessly infatuated with Brody.
...
Iris looked mortified and Quinn felt sorry for her, as Haim Cohen and Saul moved on to looking at some paperwork.
Was it love, or could Carrie be suffering from Saviour Complex? Quinn didn't know which was worse, the thought that Carrie was clinging to somebody like Brody, simply because he was as needy, sick and damaged as herself. Or that Carrie was afraid of being left heartbroken and alone without Brody, if he got fixed? Quinn frowned. Perhaps Haim Cohen could try to rehabilitate Carrie, as well as Brody?
Quinn vowed to take responsibility and look after Carrie, regardless, because after his son, John, she was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most precious thing in his life. Rudy McCoy didn't need him, he could look after himself, but fragile Carrie certainly needed someone to look out for her. Someone she could trust and rely on as they entered the turmoil ahead. Quinn started to wonder if he might be having a bout of Saviour Complex himself.
...
Quinn glanced into Haim Cohen's battered briefcase as he rummaged fervently, to retrieve some additional paperwork. In a clear plastic bag, were a selection of ampoules, vials and syringes. Quinn frowned and wondered what they were. He leant closer and could just about read the label on one vial, amobarbital sodium. He gasped and spoke without thinking, "Truth Serum?"
Haim Cohen looked up from his briefcase and smiled, coldly. "Agent Quinn, I do not perform narco-analysis. These medicines are sedatives to help my patients with insomnia." He made a show of laying out some papers in front of him and snapped his briefcase firmly closed, "Do you have any other questions?"
Quinn frowned and looked at Iris who was now texting away on her cell-phone, "What is Iris actually going to do here?"
Haim Cohen smiled secretively, "You and Iris will work closely together to help me... and each other."
"Fair enough!" Quinn shrugged, nonchalantly. Surely working with a professional seductress wouldn't be all that bad? He couldn't wait to tell Rudy McCoy.
"Well, let us begin," Haim Cohen put a pair of round spectacles on the end of his nose. "Tell me everything that you know about Congressman Brody."